Raeford Parachute Center

This afternoon, a coworker and I traveled to Raeford, a small town located just outside of Fayetteville. We have been discussing (and compiling) our bucket lists, and decided that it was time to cross skydiving from our lists. We had made reservations to jump with the Raeford Parachute Center, which was a small airport that seems devoted primarily to parachuting.

After a brief video (which was little more than a warning that we could get hurt - and that the parachuting center would not be held responsible), we were outfitted in a jumpsuit and harness. Before we knew it, we were loading into a very small plane. The plane merely had two benches along the sides, which we had to straddle with a person directly behind us (and a person in front of us who was practically sitting on our laps - it was a very tight fit!)

Me jumping from the plane
When we reached 13,500 feet (4,115 meters), it was time to jump. Before we jumped, my jump partner asked if I wanted to jump straight out - or if I wanted to do a back-flip out of the plane; stupidly, I answered, "back-flip." When it was my turn to jump, I had to sit on the ledge of the plane, with my legs hanging out of the plane (which was quite scary!) We did our back-flip and then continued plummeting (quickly) towards the earth. After about 60-seconds (which seemed like ages), the parachute was pulled, and we made a slow descent to the ground. Surprisingly, the landing was extremely gentle. I don't know that I'll be taking to the skies again anytime soon, but I am glad that I can say I've done it.

Cape Fear Botanical Gardens (Again)

Fountain at Cape Fear Botanical Gardens
Since it had been a couple months since my last visit to the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens, I decided to pay a summertime visit to the gardens. Although I started my trip with low expectations (I assumed the summer heat would have killed most of the blossoms), I was pleasantly surprised by the lushness of the garden (I guess the humidity that we've suffered through has really benefited the plants!)

Flooded Cape Fear River
Although I was impressed with the garden, I was most interested in seeing the Cape Fear River. With the recent tropical storm that passed through North Carolina, I knew the river would be well above its normal level. After encountering the river trail, I was quite surprised that they didn't have it closed off for the weekend; there were numerous trees down along the trail, and the river had overtaken part of the trail. Fortunately, one of the river overlooks provided a welcome rest in the shade (I actually sat there and wrote for an hour.) Sadly, since the trail was flooded, I was forced to turn around and re-walk the path back to the garden entrance.

Daylilies in Bloom
Fortunately, once out of the forest and on higher ground, I was able to continue walking the grounds (which were relatively empty due to the heat and humidity.) Although most of the garden remained as it was two-months ago, I was surprised to find a massive collection of daylilies in bloom. I found this lily particularly nice (though I didn't spend much time exploring the lilies since the sun was quite intense! Overall, it was a very pleasant afternoon in the garden.

Colonial Williamsburg

Governor's Palace at Williamsburg
To complete my colonial weekend in Virginia, I moved eastward to the colonial capital of Williamsburg (and the historical village that has been set up to re-enacted the 1770s.) Although a little expensive ($42), Colonial Williamsburg provided a full-day of entertainment (though there was a bit too much walking in the hot Virginia sun...)

Colonial Garden
Williamsburg proved to be a good mixture of colonial capital, average town, and multitude of actors. The larger structures (the Governor's Palace and the Colonial Capitol) were the main tourist stops, I actually found the smaller shops with the typical workers far more interesting.

Woman weaving cloth in a traditional manner
The smaller shops included silversmiths, cobblers, weavers, basket-makers, a wig-maker, and many more. At each shop, the actor was working his or her craft while explaining the process and history behind it. Of all the shops, I found the weaver's shop to be the most interesting (though that was perhaps because I had the most knowledge about yarn and the dying process.) I would have purchased some of their hand-spun and hand-dyed yarn, but it was $25/skein!

Benedict Arnold in front of the Capitol Building
In addition to all the wonderful buildings and shopkeepers, there were also a number of historic re-enactments throughout the day. Some were more interesting than the others; however, the highlight was an afternoon production that involved the British storming the capital and placing Benedict Arnold in charge of the city. It was interesting - though Benedict Arnold proved very difficult to photograph since he was overly dramatic in his role. However, it made a good ending to a day in the 1700s.

Monticello

Monticello reflected in the house's fish pond
This morning, I made the 4-hour drive to Charlottesville in central Virginia. A couple months ago, I had seen a picture similar to the one above, and decided that I really wanted to visit Thomas Jefferson's plantation home, Monticello. After reading a long biography of Jefferson, I finally decided to book the tickets for my brief weekend getaway.

At Monticello, there are two basic ticket types. The standard admission is about $20 and covers the first floor of the home and tours of both the garden and the slave quarters. For $40, however, you can get this - plus a behind the scenes tour of Monticello's upper floors. Since I figured this would likely be my only visit I'd ever make to Monticello, I went ahead a splurged on the more expensive tour.

The West Lawn at Monticello
My "Behind the Scenes" home tour was scheduled for 2:30, so I had plenty of time to explore before my guided tour. I spent some time in the museum, but found it a little lacking. Fortunately, I was able to join the hour-long guided tour on "Slavery at Monticello." Although this tour was fairly educational, I found it a little disappointing. The tour was little more than an educational lecture - there was nothing really to see (just the empty spaces which once contained slave quarters...you would have thought that they could have reconstructed at least one of the cabins.)

Fortunately, the slavery tour did fill most of my time, so I simply walked the grounds taking pictures while I awaited my house tour. When it came time for the house tour, I learned that the "Behind the Scenes" groups are much smaller than the normal groups (which are herded through the house at 15-minuter intervals.) My group of about 15 was first led through the ground floor (which all the tours see and is decorated as it was in Jefferson's day. Eventually, we were led to a very narrow stairwell and continued to the second and third floors.

In the recent past (like six-months ago), these upper floors were used as the museum's offices; in fact, they are currently still in the process of renovating these rooms. Only one of the rooms had actually furnishings, but it was very interesting to see the unfinished rooms (we could see what the flooring under the stoves was like and how the beds looked when not outfitted with bedding.) The highlight of the upstairs tour is the dome room atop the house (the large empty room directly below the front dome.) Overall, it was a very impressive tour (and well worth the extra $20.)

Monticello's vegetable garden
After the house tour, I continued with a tour of the flower and vegetable gardens that surrounded the house. I was actually surprised how many flowers were in bloom (I thought the summer heat would have killed them...) After the garden tour, I made a quick stop at the Jefferson's grave site and continued back to my car. It was a long (hot) day at Monticello, but I definitely enjoyed myself.